Bacon advice needed

[local angler]

I started a new batch of 10.5's maple cured bacon last night.  I used 2.5 gallon bags to hold the meat and cure.  Here is where the problem starts...  I put the bag in my fridge out in the garage, and when I went to overhaul the meat, I found that the bag had begun to leak.  It looks like I lost about 1/2 cup of liquid.  The seal on the bag wasn't the best. 

Is this something I should be concerned with?  There is still quite a bit of liquid in the bag, but did I lose too much of the cure?  If so, could I add cure to the bag and salvage the bacon? 

Help!!

[GusRobin]

I don't know if I would just add cure. I think I would rinse it, weigh it, and start over with the appropriate qty of cure and spices. I think that one day won't make a difference.

[SmokinSignals]

I agree with Gus, better safe than sorry.

[local angler]

Thanks for the advice.  Seems like good common sense.  I would hate to waste a slab.

[Habanero Smoker]

It is not a good idea to just add more cure once you have measured the correct amount, and you begun curing, or rinse off existing cure and start the cure process again; unless it is part of the recipe.

A half cup of liquid may seem like a lot, but it depends on how much cure mix you made and the weight of the bacon your are curing. How long was it curing for? If you had place the bags in a pan to catch the spill, you can just place the meat into another bag or get a better seal on the existing bag and pour the liquid in.

[beefmann]

start over  with a  fresh cure

[Tenpoint5]

It is not a good idea to just add more cure once you have measured the correct amount, and you begun curing, or rinse off existing cure and start the cure process again; unless it is part of the recipe.

A half cup of liquid may seem like a lot, but it depends on how much cure mix you made and the weight of the bacon your are curing. How long was it curing for? If you had place the bags in a pan to catch the spill, you can just place the meat into another bag or get a better seal on the existing bag and pour the liquid in.

I have to agree with Habs on this one. If you are not sure how much cure is remaining in the bag. Make sure that when you smoke that piece of bacon that you HOT SMOKE it. Meaning that you will smoke that piece at 225 degrees and make sure that you get the meat up 152º IT. That's being safe in my book.

Rinsing the meat off and reapplying the cure and spices is a bad idea in my book. If you had that much moisture in 24 hours. That means that the salt and cure have already started to do the things they are ment to do. You have NO way of determining how much salt or cure has been absorbed by the meat. Thus by rinsing and starting over you run the risk of having too much cure in the Bacon. So that's why I say go with the flow and HOT SMOKE IT!!

That's my $.02

[Habanero Smoker]

It is best to cautious. If you do not feel comfortable either way, the belly is not lost. Cook/smoke as 10.5 pointed out, and treat it like fresh belly. You can still slice and fry it.

If you couldn't recapture the liquid, there should have been more then enough cure to bring the nitrites ppm (parts per million), up to a safe level to provide food safety. The recipe provides enough nitrites to bring the ppm close to the maximum guideline for belly bacon. Rinsing and adding more cure will only increase the ppm. It is better to be below the  maximum ppm and still be within a safe range, then go above it.

If you place your sealable bags in a rimmed bake sheet or pan, you will be able to recapture the lost liquid, and keep your refrigerator clean at the same time.